Passau is a marvel and worth visiting at any time of the year -- unless it is flooded, again. Unfortunately what makes Passau's location so stunning is also its biggest threat. It's located at the gathering of a whopping three rivers -- the Inn, the Donau, and the Ilz. For thousands of years, those three rivers have dug deep into the surroundings, leaving the city on a peninsula embedded in lush green hills. Sadly, theses rivers tend to inundate the old town every few years, wreaking havoc to buildings and businesses. If the water is where it is supposed to be -- in the rivers -- the place is more than enjoyable for all ages of travelers.

The old town is a stunner -- there is a cute little array of activities such as hiking trails and special little museums and a huge array of river cruising offers! This is actually the main reason many travelers to come to Passau, as the river cruises down the Danube (to Vienna and Budapest) start off here. It is also a major point of the classic yet fantastic Danube cycling trail leading all the way down to Vienna.

Getting to Passau is convenient enough, as it is also connected to Germany's fantastic railway network. It is not a major transit hub, though, so it might take an interchange to get on the right track. It is convenient for those wishing to continue to Austria though as plenty of (night) trains to all kinds of Austrian destinations leave in Passau (as well as long distance buses).

The town is small and thus it seems that privately run hostels in Passau are struggling to stay in business -- they come and go pretty quickly. Usually Passau hostels are situated in the old town and thus are a good base for exploring the town on foot. No matter what the situation of private hostels in Passau is, there is always the longstanding government-run hostel option -- the location is nice and you'll be overlooking the town! As you might have guessed, though, this means a bit of walking or relying on semi-frequent buses.